Tag Archives: river

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn in the Canyon

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Autumn in the Canyon
A cottonwood tree with autumn foliage deep in the canyon of the Escalante River.

Autumn in the Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cottonwood tree with autumn foliage deep in the canyon of the Escalante River.

In my previous post I mentioned something about the experience of wandering down canyons such as this one, in particular the seductive nature of the continuous pattern of “next bend,” straight section, and the next “next bend” — and the difficulty of resisting the lure of exploring just one more twist of the canyon. On this. day I ran into that temptation as your pre-set turn-around time arrived… and passed… and we continued through a couple more of these bends.

This was one of the earlier bends, a point where we came back down to the stream after passing over some higher ground in a straight section. Here we had to wade to cross the stream since the route now followed the opposite bank. After crossing I climbed up a bit to place this colorful cottonwood tree in a composition that included the canyon beyond, and as I photographed a string of horses forded the stream.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon Wall and Reflections

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Canyon Wall and Reflections
A vertical canyon wall is reflected in the Utah canyon stream.

Canyon Wall and Reflections. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vertical canyon wall is reflected in the Utah canyon stream.

A small group of photographers spent a couple days exploring this canyon, walking in from its wide mouth and soon being surrounded by tall sandstone cliffs and cut off from the outside world. On the first day it was quite cold and we faced the challenge of wind — which created some big challenges when photographing in the shadowed depths of the canyon. We had some success, but a few days later we decided to return and try for a day with less wind.

In this canyon I recognized a lesson that I suppose I already knew subconsciously. As we worked out way downstream we were balancing the distance we could travel against the amount of time we spend on each subject and calculating our necessary turn-around time if we were to exit the canyon in daylight. But it is hard to stop exploring such a place, and more that once we would round a bend, see another section of canyon come into view, and say, “just this one more section.” Then we’d reach the next bend, feel the need to explore it, catch a glimpse of what was around the next bend and, well, you get the idea. If I recall correctly, this was the final bend at which we realized that we had to reverse course. It was a lovely spot, extremely still and quiet, with the small stream flowing gently past the bottom of a very large and rugged cliff in deep shadows.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Escalante River Canyon Bend

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Escalante River Canyon Bend
The Escalante River rounds a bend as it descends.

Escalante River Canyon Bend. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Escalante River rounds a bend as it descends.

If this photograph looks familiar, that may be because it is the landscape orientation presentation of a scene I shared a few weeks ago. The Escalante River and the remarkable national monument (which we hope is soon restored to its original boundaries) through which it flows are beautiful. This beauty takes many forms — the quiet of a river bend deep in the canyon, the dry and almost. barren uplands from which the canyon is invisible, and a few grand and open scenes like this one.

Much of the canyon is difficult to access, and walking to and through it is ideal. But on this day we were driving between Escalante and Boulder, and when we crossed the river here clouds were breaking up the sun and alternating bands of light and shadow were moving across the early autumn landscape.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cliff and Trees

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Cliff and Trees
Trees and brush at the base of a sandstone cliff along the Virgin River, Zion National Park.

Cliff and Trees. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees and brush at the base of a sandstone cliff along the Virgin River, Zion National Park.

For an autumn photograph there isn’t a lot of autumn color here! Back in 2012 I made two trips to Southern Utah. The pattern of fall color change in Utah, in my somewhat limited experience, is both different than what I’m used to in California and spread out across many weeks and the many climate zones of the state. The first lesson I learned was very early in October: the aspens in Utah change earlier than those in the Eastern Sierra that I know so well. A second lesson was that the cottonwoods and other trees and bushes in the redrock canyon country change next, and they can be spectacular. The third lesson — illustrated here — is that the colors in Zion Canyon apparently change quite a bit later. I haven’t hit the peak there yet, but I understand that it can be as late as the beginning of November.

This visit was barely two weeks into October, and much of the vegetation in Zion Canyon was still quite green. This photograph comes from a very popular and often crowded area just beyond the road-end at the upper end of the canyon, where many begin their walk/wade up the Virgin River. This is, I think, one of those places that is “iconic for a reason.” This section features a relatively flat and wide canyon bottom, full of trees that can benefit from occasional flooding. But for me the massive canyon walls that follow the river’s course are the main show — the sandstone here is massive and nearly vertical.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.